Ned O'Sullivan (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I give a belated welcome to the establishment of the Shannon Estuary task force, which was put together in recent weeks. We in Kerry were somewhat disappointed that there is only one Kerry person on it. After all, it was set up to somewhat alleviate the disappointment we suffered when liquefied natural gas, LNG, was parked in the programme for Government.Thankfully, that programme is up and running and very much alive again in the current circumstances. Having said that, we welcome it greatly. We have a very good Kerryman on it, Professor Brendan O'Donnell of Munster Technological University. The Shannon Foynes Port Company is represented on it as well. We hope to get regular reports from this task force. Task forces tend to become talking shops and after four or five years, they are wound up with a report that no one will ever read. I would like regular confirmation and updates on what it is doing and on what progress it is making.

I do not know if the Deputy Leader is aware that there are certain agencies that advertise and work online to provide services for householders. They help householders to get a painter, a decorator or a gardener. Some of them are fairly well known. The biggest one of them is based in London. That is fine as it is very hard to source workers in rural areas. Due to Government policies, we almost have full employment and it is not as easy to get casual work as it used to be. In what I am sure is a minority of cases, this is being abused by rogue operators who find out who is looking for a service such as gardening. They get the details, offer a price and come on site. In some cases, they do not give any service at all. It leads to an awful lot of problems and very often they leave the premises with the job undone and the money paid up. That should be regulated. I do not know what Minister should do that. If one has a problem with these operators and one looks for recourse, one is more or less told to take a jump. They say they cannot help. They are just like the Golden Pages. However, they constantly bombard one with questions and ask whether one needs a professional painter and gardener. They say they will help one to get a professional. If the professional lets one down, they do not want to know about it.